America West Airlines Flight 556 was a regularly scheduled flight from Miami, Florida, to Phoenix, Arizona, operated by an America West Airlines Airbus A319. On July 1, 2002, the plane was ordered back to the terminal after the pilots were suspected of being drunk beyond the legal limit. The pilots were ultimately convicted of operating an aircraft while intoxicated.
Background
On June 30, Captain Thomas Cloyd, 44, and First Officer Christopher Hughes, 42, flew from Phoenix to Miami. That night, they entered Mr. Moe's, a sports bar in Miami's Coconut Grove neighborhood, along with the three flight attendants scheduled to fly with them on Flight 556 the next morning. At 10:30 p.m. that night, Cloyd opened up a tab; over the next six hours, Cloyd and Hughes drank seven 34-ounce beers, seven 16-ounce beers, one draft beer of unspecified size and a martini. A hamburger was also ordered. The tab ran to US$122.28, to which Hughes added a $20 tip. The bar staff finally kicked the men out at 4:45 a.m. after they knocked over a bar stool, and Cloyd and Hughes returned to their hotel at 5:30 a.m. The flight attendants had left the bar several hours earlier.
A shuttle arrived at the hotel to pick up Cloyd, Hughes and the flight attendants at 9:30 a.m. However, they had to wait about 20 minutes for Hughes, who entered looking somewhat disheveled. Flight 556 was scheduled to leave for Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix at 10:38 a.m. When the shuttle arrived at Miami International Airport, the pilots stopped at Starbucks Coffee before going to the security checkpoint. A security screener asked Cloyd to throw away his coffee cup, but Cloyd refused; when a supervisor was called and tried to get him to comply, Cloyd responded, "that shit doesn't apply to me." However, Cloyd finally threw away his coffee cup after police were called. Several screeners reported smelling alcohol on the pilots' breath and asked a ground security coordinator to speak with them at the gate. When she noted that there were concerns Cloyd and Hughes were drunk, Cloyd blamed it on bad breath. However, the supervisor had already called the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), who then alerted the police.
By the time police arrived, the aircraft had already been pushed off the bridge by the tug. However, the police and TSA ordered the plane back to the terminal after receiving complaints about Cloyd and Hughes being drunk. When the pilots were given field sobriety tests, they failed and were arrested at 11:45 a.m. for operating an aircraft while intoxicated, a felony in Florida. America West canceled the flight and arranged for the 127 passengers to fly to Phoenix on other airlines.
At the police station, Cloyd and Hughes both consented to a breathalyzer test: Cloyd's blood alcohol content was 0.091; Hughes' was 0.084. Both results were above Florida's motor vehicle legal limit of 0.08, and more than double the Federal Aviation Administration's limit of 0.04. America West terminated Cloyd and Hughes the next day and the FAA grounded them on July 4. Cloyd had worked for America West since 1990; Hughes since 1999. At the time, America West had a policy that barred its pilots from drinking 12 hours before a flight, meaning that Cloyd and Hughes' careers were in jeopardy shortly after they opened their bar tab. This was stricter than the FAA's requirement that pilots do not drink for eight hours before a flight. It later emerged that Cloyd had submitted false information when applying to America West, as he had two previous undisclosed alcohol-related offenses.
Trial
Cloyd and Hughes were subsequently indicted by a Miami-Dade County grand jury on one count each of operating an aircraft while intoxicated. They were released on $7,500 bail.
The pilots tried to get the case thrown out, contending that the federal government had exclusive jurisdiction over aviation safety unless there is a loss of life, serious injury, or damage to property. In 2003, a federal judge agreed with the pilots. This was critical, because federal law allows for prosecution only if one's blood alcohol content is 0.10 or higher. The pilots were below that standard (although they were far above the FAA standard), raising the possibility that they would escape federal charges; however, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Florida did have jurisdiction over the case and that its prosecution had to run its course before federal courts got involved. The Supreme Court refused to consider the case. The pilots then negotiated a plea bargain in which they would have pleaded guilty in return for 14-month prison terms; Circuit Court Judge David Young rejected the deal, and the trial began in May 2005.